Drexciya Research Lab

Monday, November 07, 2011

Drexciya - Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller

Clone has begun to release details of the first in their series of Drexciya reissues. Surprisingly they have chosen to combine tracks from Deep Sea Dweller, Bubble Metropolis, Unknown Aquazone, Aquatic Invasion, The Journey Home, The Return of Drexciya and The Quest for this first release. It is due to appear in late December on 2LP and CD as Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller on Clone Classic Cuts. The tracks will be the same on both formats, 13 in all, with the only small difference being that the order of them on the vinyl is slightly different to the CD, probably due to getting the most from the vinyl, track length wise. A few days ago a screen shot from the mastering was put up by Adlen Tyrell on his Facebook so I’m guessing he did the remastering job. There is no question that since James Stinson’s death interest in Drexciya has been steadily growing and now that this first volume of their earlier music is now easily available again on vinyl and CD this should only continue and increase as new generations discover and interpret it into their lives.

Clone say the following about their choice of tracks, “Since the original releases have such a strong character, appeal and stand on their own, this re-issue can never re-create the magic of those originals. So instead we stirred up the catalogue taking the tracks out of their original context, giving the 'in the know' listener a fresh experience and the new listener a document that is the best possible introduction to the aquatic world of Drexciya.” I can go along with that but it's also a great way to get people to buy it all again. The inclusion of an unreleased track, 'Unknown Journey' also won’t do any harm to sales. I guess if they continue on in this manner we could be here for sometime but I am glad this stuff is coming out again in any form, especially remastered on vinyl and CD. We’ll never know for sure what James Stinson would have made of this but I did find this quote from his Muzik magazine interview in 1997 which may imply he would have appreciated these new patterns for his music to take. “Too many records just go from point A to point A. Our material zig-zags. We want to take you from point A to infinity. The music is there to implant in your imagination and let your psyche take over and run wild.” Guided by imagination there are certainly infinite and wild new patterns the catalogue can now go in and I guess this and the original are only two of those possibilities. I have already listened to the new order on YouTube (and if you follow the links below you can too) and it’s wild, primitive and fun but once you have all the tracks you could just programme them anyway you want, including the original way, and maybe that is what is important. More details at http://clone.nl/artist/drexciya

For the record here is the full Clone text...First part of the Drexciya re-issue series! Drexciya might need an introduction for some, for others it is the most influential techno project ever. Part of the heritage of Detroit's Underground Resistance, Drexciya explored techno music like no-one else before. Raw and uncompromising music that reflects the harsh environment of the city where Drexciya was conceived. The aesthetics and the mythical approach combined with the unique music made this one of the biggest cult projects in techno music. Drexciya arguably stands for the darker side of techno and electro, music not only made for the club scene, but a further development of the music as an expression and extension of the mind. 20 years after the release of ''Deep Sea Dweller'' (their first release), and 10 years after ''Grava 4'' (their last), we present ''Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller''. This series is an almost complete collection of their early works, and is remastered from the original master tapes. Since the original releases have such a strong character, appeal and stand on their own, this re-issue can never re-create the magic of those originals. So instead we stirred up the catalogue taking the tracks out of their original context, giving the 'in the know' listener a fresh experience and the new listener a document that is the best possible introduction to the aquatic world of Drexciya.